TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Wednesday (Oct. 19) it was immediately starting the inoculation of individuals who had received Medigen COVID-19 shots with other vaccines to prepare for foreign travel.
When Japan reopened its borders to tourists Oct. 11, it only allowed travelers who had received jabs from an official government list to enter the country without self-paid COVID tests or quarantine. The list included vaccines from China and India, but not Taiwan’s Medigen.
An estimated 1 million Taiwanese inoculated with the brand would thus be unable to travel to Japan, and potentially to other countries, because Medigen had not received international certification, reports said.
Beginning Wednesday, Medigen recipients were allowed to receive between one and three shots of other brands, the CECC said. There needed to be a minimum interval of four weeks or 28 days between the first and the second jab, with a booster shot following at least 12 weeks or 84 days later.
The CECC reminded members of the public that after they had received the new shots, they needed to apply for and download a digital proof of vaccination to show when entering another country, CNA reported.